


run from their pity, from responsibility

by hero_is_here



Series: frame the halves and call them brothers [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Eret and Toby Smith | Tubbo are Siblings, Fluff, Gen, Goat Hybrid Toby Smith | Tubbo, Older Sibling Eret (Video Blogging RPF), Older Sibling Wilbur Soot, TWs in notes, They/Them Pronouns for Eret (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit are Siblings, Wilbur Soot-centric, Winged TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), sometimes a family is two teens and two little kids living in a van
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29014839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hero_is_here/pseuds/hero_is_here
Summary: Another thing Will realized with Tommy before they left is his tendency to disappear. Will could be talking to a vendor, desperately wanting to fix the old caravan he found in the woods, then Tommy would be gone. The first few times, it leads Will teetering into a panic attack and pushing past people, looking for the blond haired demon. Tommy would show up once again at his older brother’s side eventually.But now, in this much larger marketplace than they were used to, he did not want Tommy to leave his side. As he gives a few emeralds for redstone and turns around, his little brother is no longer there.ORwilbur and tommy find tubbo at a marketplace.[title from 'runs in the family' by amanda palmer.]
Relationships: Eret & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Eret & Wilbur Soot, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Series: frame the halves and call them brothers [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2113689
Comments: 2
Kudos: 139





	run from their pity, from responsibility

**Author's Note:**

> tws: child abandonment, crying, lgbtphobia, fantasy racism (yeah i know :/)

One thing Will realized after leaving is that, the farther they move South, the less tolerance there seems to be for hybrids. Some kid in one of the villages they’d first entered ended up throwing a rock at Tommy after taking one looking at his wings. Will nearly chased the kid off in a protective fury, before realizing he definitely needed to stay with his little brother. Will got Tommy a large coat to hide the wings in the same town.

Another thing Will realized with Tommy before they left is his tendency to disappear. Will could be talking to a vendor, desperately wanting to fix the old caravan he found in the woods, then Tommy would be gone. The first few times, it leads Will teetering into a panic attack and pushing past people, looking for the blond haired demon. Tommy would show up once again at his older brother’s side eventually.

But now, in this much larger marketplace than they were used to, he did  _ not  _ want Tommy to leave his side. As he gives a few emeralds for redstone and turns around, his little brother is no longer there.

“Fuck,” Will mumbles, stepping away from the stand and looking through the crowd. His height has always been a bonus, but especially in crowds. He sees the face of his little brother pop out of an alley and scan the crowd. When the boy’s gaze lands on Will, he waves his older brother frantically over. 

Will begins writing a lecture in his head as he approaches the alley. “Tommy, I swear to-”

He stops himself as he sees Tommy speaking gently to another young boy. The young boy has tear tracks down his face and is sniffling. Will’s older brother instincts almost immediately kick in. He crouches down next to the boy, rubbing circles into his back. The boy flinches slightly when Will crouches, but leans into the touch.

“What’s wrong?” he says quietly, trying not to scare the boy.

The boy rubs at his eye. “I… I lost my sibling,” he says with a crack in his voice. The boy’s accent implies he’s also from the North.

“Do you remember the last place they were?” Will asks softly. The boy shakes his head and wipes at his eyes.

Will sighs and looks out to the crowd. He stops himself from muttering a curse. He isn’t about to leave this kid in an alley in a busy market. “Well, uh, how about you stay with us while we wait for your sibling?”

The boy looks up at Will and nods. Will looks at Tommy’s impatient face. At least he was quiet during that. 

“Anyways,” Tommy rolls his eyes and Will thinks about jokingly smacking the kid. “What’s your name?”

“Tubbo,” the boy says quietly. Tommy squints.

“That’s a stup-” that warrants an actual smack to the head from Will. Tommy whips around to glare at his older brother.

“That’s a cool name, Tubbo,” Will says with a smile to the brunet, before looking back to glare at his little brother.

Tommy crossing his arms. “Yeah, whatever.”

“Do you want to sit on my shoulders in case you see your sibling?” Will asks Tubbo. THe boy thinks for a moment before nodding. Will gently picks up the boy and places him onto his shoulders.

“You’re tall,” Tubbo says in wonder. Will lets out a small laugh before taking Tommy’s hand and walking back into the crowd.

“Tell me if you see your sibling,” Will says to the boy atop his shoulders, before browsing the vendors. Tommy begrudgingly stays at Will’s side, speaking to Tubbo from the ground. Often, the brunet will just listen to Tommy, but would occasionally give his input.

Will is looking at a book about redstone when he feels Tubbo looking over his head at it. Will has some vague knowledge of redstone, nowhere near enough to continue fixing the van, though. He thinks he’s done pretty well for himself, but a book would definitely help. Tubbo points down to a book about bugs, a large image of a bee on the front.

“You see something you like?” Will asks, picking up the book. Tubbo’s small ‘mhm!’ is enough to convince Will to buy the book for the boy. “You want a book, Tommy?”

“Reading’s for pussies,” Tommy says, a sour look on his face. Tubbo gasps, and Will assumes the boy isn’t used to cursing.

“Tommy,” Will sighs. “What did I say about using language in public?”

“That it’s fuckin’ cool-”

“When did I exactly say it was ‘fuckin’ cool,’”

Tommy frowns. “You didn’t.”

“No, I didn’t. So, don’t do it, yeah?”

“Yeah, sorry, Will,” Tommy frowns. “Can we go now?”

Once he pays for the two books, Will looks around. It’s been two hours, with no sight of Tubbo’s sibling. “There’s a small park nearby. Let’s stop there for a little bit, okay?”

Tommy grins widely and Will pulls Tubbo off his shoulders. Tommy practically tugs them towards the park. Will sits on the grass under a tree while Tommy drags Tubbo off to play. He opens the book about redstone and begins to read, taking a moment every few pages to keep an eye on the boys.

An hour passes when he hears a deep voice, yelling for Tubbo. Will is already on his feet by the time he spots the figure. Tubbo runs into their arms and they hold Tubbo as if the boy would float away. Will and Tommy both walk up awkwardly. The person, Will assumes they’re Tubbo’s older sibling, looks up at Will. He awkwardly puts up a hand in a half wave.

“Uh, hi, you must be Tubbo’s older sibling?” Will breaks the silence first.

They let go of Tubbo and look him over, obviously looking for injuries or anything.

“Uh, yes, I’m Eret,” they speak in a deep voice and offer a hand out for a handshake. Will takes it.

“I’m Will-” he stops himself from the introduction of ‘William Minecraft.’ It doesn’t really fit anymore. “Wilbur.”

Somehow the name rolls off the tongue. Tommy looks up at him, knitting his eyebrows together. Will- Wilbur looks down at his brother. “And this is Tommy, he found Tubbo,” he introduces.

“Thank you so much for taking care of him, I don’t know how I can repay you-”

Wilbur immediately shakes his head. “No problem, man. I don’t mind helping.”

“You could let us play for a little bit longer,” Tommy says, staring up at Eret. Wilbur opens his mouth to say something.

“Uh, I guess that’s okay, as long as it’s okay with Tubbo?” Eret says, looking at their own little brother. When Tubbo nods vigorously, Eret purses their lips but shrugs. “Alright, then.”

When the two eldest are together, Wilbur looks at Eret anxiously. “So, uh, you guys from around here?”

Eret shakes their head. “I’m from a bit further up North. Not sure about Tubbo, but I don’t think he’s from here either.”

“He’s not your actual brother?”

“Not exactly. I found him a year ago maybe? On the side of the road. I felt so bad, I couldn’t just leave him there.”

“You’ve been alone all that time?”

Eret crosses their arms and Wilbur is scared he’s overstepped. “Yeah… yeah, I have. I’m honestly just trying to get as far from where I came from as possible,” Eret says finally.

Wilbur lets out a breath he wasn’t aware he was holding. “Me, too, actually. But it’s only been a few months for me.”

Eret looks at Wilbur. Wilbur can’t see their eyes under their sunglasses, but they’ve raised their eyes. “Really?”

“Yeah, my dad’s kind of… absent. So, I thought it’d be best for Tommy to get him away before he, y’know, thinks it’s his fault or something,” Wilbur shrugs. An unspoken ‘like me’ sits on his tongue.

“My mom was really protective after my dad died. She wanted me to be her perfect little child, but I wasn’t. I didn’t like being in the house all day, and I’m not exactly…” Eret thinks for a moment. “I’m nonbinary and bisexual. She didn’t take it super well.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. It helps that I’m not on my own anymore.”

A silence falls and Wilbur just watches the boys.

Eret clear their throat. “So. Um. Is he a hybrid?”

Wilbur’s blood runs cold. “Excuse me?” He says, polite as he is scared. Eret nods their head at Tommy. He tries to come up with an excuse. “I- uh, I don’t-”

Eret grimaces. “Sorry, I should clarify- I am. Tubbo, too.”

Wilbur feels a weight off his shoulders. “Christ- you could preface it with that next time,” he laughs nervously. “I- yeah. We both are.”

“I’m a quarter demon, on my father’s side. Tubbo’s some kind of goat, I think?” Eret explains, and Wilbur clocks the stocking cap on Tubbo’s head, probably hiding small horns and fluffy ears. “You guys?”

He thinks for a moment. “I’m… not exactly sure. Some kind of bird? My dad has wings, I had wings, Tommy has ‘em. I think our mom was human, though.”

Eret nods. “You  _ had  _ wings?” They ask. “Like, you don’t anymore?”

Wilbur frowns. “Yeah, they had to be removed. Medical issue.”

“I’m sorry,” they say softly. Wilbur shrugs. 

“I- so, you guys are also hybrids from the North and on the run?” Wilbur muses. “That’s… quite a coincidence.”

“Maybe it was meant to be,” Eret laughs. Wilbur snorts.

“Well, we’re not exactly homeless. Have this huge caravan I found in the woods,” he says, looking back over at the boys. They seem to be scamming a kid out of some candy. Christ. “They’ve really seemed to hit it off, I would hate to separate them.”

Eret raises an eyebrow. “What are you saying exactly?”

“I’m saying you could come live in the van with us, if you wanted. It’s a lot better than sleeping outside,” Wilbur grins. “You don’t happen to know anything about redstone?”

Eret scrunches their nose. “Not really.”

“Course not.”

The rest of that night consists of Eret reading the redstone manual aloud to Wilbur as he attempts to solve whatever new issue has cropped up. Tubbo listens intently, even though Tommy had long fallen asleep, and points out better ways to do certain things. Eret and Wilbur are confused on how a six-year-old manages to know so much about redstone, but neither are going to argue.

They don’t actually expect to find a nice community as they move further South, but they do. Two men stood in the road, blocking the entrance to the road. Wilbur is the only one to leave the van, the only one of the four who can pass as one-hundred-percent human. 

He takes closer look at them as he approaches, one clad in green and a mask, the other with a pair of goggles strapped to his head. They both have swords and look like they use them often. 

“Are you kids looking for something?” A voice says from behind the mask. Wilbur looks at the turns to look at the van in time to see Tommy and Tubbo ducking below the dashboard. Eret just stares. He sighs.

“Just travelling, trying to find somewhere to settle down,” Wilbur says, not willing to give too much away.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” he can tell the man is smiling without seeing his face. “We were just about to go looking for new residents.”

“Oh? Is that so?”   
  


“Yes, and we’re accepting of hybrids.”

Wilbur scrunches his eyebrows. Is he really that clockable? “We’re not-”

“He’s good with this kind of thing,” the man in goggles says, Northern accent obvious. Wilbur is surprised he’s managed to find so many Northerners so far South.

“I’m Dream, this is George, why don’t you bring the other kids out and we can show you around?” The masked man offers. Wilbur anxiously looks back at the van again, then back at the men. 

Wilbur nods and he nearly laughs as he hears the two youngest scamper out of the van immediately. Maybe this place will be good for them, he thinks.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: hero-is-here  
> Twitter: heroishere0
> 
> leave a comment if you'd like, they always make me happy. also, check out my other stories (esp the other ones in this series). thank you for reading!


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